


tPI - Witchhunt

by moschonn



Series: The Possible Initiative [1]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon), W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 00:01:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13822230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moschonn/pseuds/moschonn
Summary: A few weeks before "Graduation", Will Du gets assigned to investigate inconclusive data originating in a small city in Oregon. What he will find out is quite different from what anyone had guessed...





	tPI - Witchhunt

**Author's Note:**

> This is proofread, though I might have missed things or messed up things like idioms and figures of speech. If anyone wants to beta this, please do contact me.

The Possible Initiative – Witchhunt

Prologue

Monday, June 11th, fifteen days until Graduation

„So, what am I supposed to find out anyway?” Will Du asked his commanding officer via the built-in hands-free kit, driving towards his latest assignment. “You just sent me here in a hurry with no further briefing.“ He was just a little miffed about that.

“Over the last fifteen months, our astrophysics department has picked up irregular energy discharges and weird distortions in space-time.” The woman explained, voice business-like. “They couldn't pinpoint them to one particular location, but they all occurred within the city limits. We want you to find out what is happening.”

“That's everything we've got?” he checked disbelievingly. Global Justice's science division was usually far better with details, to the point of obsessing over them.

“The events vary in scale, appear all over the city and don't seem to have any particular frequency. However, a distortion is often followed by or follows a discharge, so there seems to be some kind of connection. This is not consistent, as there has been one without the other occasionally.”

“So, basically you have no idea if this is some kind of cosmic hiccup or the apocalypse and you're sending me in nearly blind. Great. What else is new?” He sighed. “My cover?”

“That...” his CO hesitated, considering. “is actually a fairly decent, if cynical, summary, yes.” She cleared her throat before answering. “You're Ian Steward, college student, only just moved here, studying physics with a focus on electromagnetism along with a minor in algorithmic analysis.”

“Close enough, but why not astrophysics proper?”

“Credibility: The local college doesn't offer that particular course of studies. You work free lance for the local branch of a software company, but you will only have to be present in person once or twice a week and only for short periods of time, as you will be 'working from home'.” He could hear the air quotes and smirked. GJ's techies would be doing 'his' work. “The manager knows of your true occupation, but thinks your working for a national agency and has no details of your mission. None of the co-workers are in the know. Keep it that way! Another agent is already undercover at a local school, a third, your partner for this assignment, will arrive within the next few days. You will receive a separate briefing on her. Just one thing: While she is a newly recruited agent, she is not a rookie, and certainly not an _amateur_.” She put special emphasis on that last word. “Director won't tolerate a repeat of the Possible-debacle.”

Will winced. It seemed Chief was unlikely to ever let him live that one down. Even after almost two years, he was still reminded of that fuck-up on a regular basis. Sure, they had stopped Killigan, but his behavior had been thoroughly unprofessional and had soured GJ's relations to Possible for months. Not that he blamed her, he had been a major brat. But  _come on_ , two years of nothing but exemplary teamwork with whoever he was assigned with and she still felt the need to reprimand him every time? That just wasn't fair.

He sighed. “Understood. ETA: eighteen minutes. Why am I driving the last twenty miles, anyway?”

“Bringing you in at the local airport with a GJ vehicle would likely blow your cover. Besides, how else is an average college student supposed to move from one state to another and be mobile at the destination?”

He grunted an affirmative and nodded. 'Could have thought of that myself.' To be fair, he had never even been near average (not always above it however), not to speak of college student. “Alright, I'll get back in contact once I've arrived. Agent Du out.” He cut the connection and looked ahead, a large billboard welcoming him to Heatherfield.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tuesday, June 12th, fourteen days until Graduation

Will Du was sitting in the office of his new alleged boss. And while this woman was exceptionally welcoming and friendly, he felt like a dear in the headlights. Because deep in his gut he knew with absolute certainty that Susan Vandom would unleash Hell, Hades and then some assorted Pandemonium upon anyone who dared threaten those she held dear. He had only ever met one other person that gave off a similar aura – though, admittedly, Betty Director had rarely offered him cookies in her office.

“Thank you” he said, taking one.

“You're welcome.” Susan put the plate onto her desk and sat down behind it, facing him. “Mister Steward, I have reviewed the code you have submitted with your application and I have to say I'm questioning your judgment.”

Will was caught off-guard by this. “Beg your pardon, Ma'am?” he asked in confusion.

“With your skills, you could easily have a very lucrative career in just about any software company on the planet. You must realize you'll never make even a fraction of that by going into research.”

Will had to smirk. “Well, Ma'am, that's pretty easily explained. For me, it's not about money. It's about expanding our knowledge of the universe. To find out how we came to be and to advance our species.” He borrowed this little speech from an actual astrophysicist, whose commitment and passion had made a permanent impression on him.

Susan gave him a long, thoughtful look. “Alright, I can respect that.” She finally said. “If you ever change your mind though, give me a call. I'm sure I can find you a job with us.”

“Thanks, Ma'am, I appreciate it.” he replied with a smile, making a mental note to pass the offer on to the GJ-techie who had actually come up with the code. After several more minutes of polite small talk, he stood up. “I hate to cut this short, but I need to get some other stuff done today, finishing the move, college stuff, you know how it is. So, if you don't have anymore questions, I'd like to take my leave.”

“Of course” Susan replied, looking a little awkward to let herself be carried away like this. “Please, don't let me keep you from your duties.” She made to accompany him to the door, but Will simply made a gesture to stop her.

“I'll find my way out, Ma'am” he smiled before he left her office.

As he exited into the underground garage a few minutes later, his earpiece gave a chime, indicating his CO wanted to contact him. Raising his cellphone to his ear to give him a credible cover, he opened the comm link. “Yes?”

“Agent Du, Sit Rep.” came the voice of the older woman.

“No, just coming from work.” he replied, making it clear he was in public and couldn't talk freely.

“Acknowledged. Continue.”

“Yeah, I just met my boss. Seems nice, though I've yet to actually get to know her.” he replied in a casual tone. His CO knew to interpret this as 'Everything went well, though I didn't meet the guy who knows I'm a spy.'

“Good. I've got a new task for you: Your partner for this mission just arrived at your shared apartment. Please go meet her and give her a briefing on what you've learned so far.”

“Just a moment, getting into the car.” As he climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door, the link switched to the car's communications suite. His voice far more business-like, he continued: “Yes, Ma'am. However, my findings thus far are quickly summed up with 'jack squad': I have yet to scout out the city and set up instruments.”

“Alright, then get to that as soon as you have met your partner. Headquarters out”

“Copy that. Agent Du out.” he cut the link, steered the car out of the garage onto the streets and drove towards his apartment. There, he found the door ajar. Inside, he could hear metallic clinking. He frowned. This was most likely his newly assigned partner, but why would she leave the door open? And what the hell was she handling to make these noises? Knowing he could only answer that by entering, he pushed to door open and took a step inside – and nearly got smashed in the face again with it. Something behind the door had pushed it back again. He caught the door and peered inside. The thing that the door had bounced off of was a duffel bag. Another two lay beside it, one of them open. A young Japanese woman squatted before it, lifting a set of throwing knives from it. Western-style throwing knives, he noticed, not kunai like one might have assumed. She put them down on the coffee table, which was already half-way covered with a variety of weapons, half of which where Western-style as well. He was no expert on Medieval weaponry, European, Japanese or otherwise, but even he recognized a Roman-style _gladius_ , a pair of small Viking-style throwing axes, a variety of Japanese knives and swords, ranging from _kunai_ to _tanto_ to _katana_ and an actual warhammer. The others didn't ring a bell and some even looked pretty outlandish but even a cursory glance told him that each and every blade was sharp. These weren't museum pieces but actual weapons of war.

“How long do you plan to admire my collection without saying hello?” The young woman asked without turning to him.

He blushed a little and cleared this throat. “Apologies. My name is Will Du, pleased to meet you.” He managed a smile and bowed a little as was usual in Japan.

She stood up straight and smiled back. He was pleased to notice that it was genuine. “Likewise. My name is Ishikawa Yori. It is an honor to work with you.” She bowed as well.

“I see you're already sorting out your gear.” He said, gesturing to the weapons. “Though your selection surprises me.”

“You don't think I can bring melee weapons to bear in the age of guns?”

“I have seen Yamanuchi shinobi in action.” He replied. “I _know_ you can. I mean that there are so many European weapons in your arsenal.”

“A personal interest” Yori replied, a little embarrassed. “Shall we get 'down to business' I think is the expression.”

“Yes, let's.” he agreed and sat down at the kitchen table, Yori taking a place opposite him. “Seeing that I only arrived yesterday myself, I wasn't able to find out much yet. I read the reports our colleague sent in, but they are inconclusive. He claims to have a trail, but it could be a wild goose chase.”

“To sum it up, we have nothing.” Yori concluded.

Will let out a sigh. “Exactly. I had planned to set up instruments to pick up the distortions and discharges today. Given enough data, we should be able to triangulate an exact location.”

Yori nodded. “Alright, but what then?”

“Depends on who or what we find. This could be anything from a cosmic hiccup to an interdimensional invasion. Hostiles will be neutralized, of course, a neutral party might be convinced to back off or even ally with us. If it's a natural occurrence, our techies will take over.”

“Not exactly a detailed plan, but given the best we can come up with given our limited data.”

“I don't particularly like it either.” Will admitted. “But yes, the best we can do at this time. Now, how about you explain to me some of the more exotic parts of your collection. I've never even seen half these items.” He gestured towards the various weapons.

Yori practically bounced out of her seat, but then clamped down on her enthusiasm. “It would be an honor.” She carefully picked up a curved, wicked looking short sword. “This is a weapon from Ancient Greece called a _kopis_...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Undercover as a a school teacher?” Yori questioned as they approached Sheffield Institute. “Isn't that a little cliché, not to mention ineffective?”

“Don't ask me about cliché, I've lost any sense of proportionality in that regard.” Du replied in a weary voice, then when back to professionalism. “It isn't, however, ineffective. If he was teaching a regular, it would be, but since he has the computer course, he only has a fraction of the workload of a normal teacher.”

“And thus enough free time to investigate.” Yori concluded. “Also, he has a reason to be near minors in case one of them is somehow connected to this.”

“I love it when people know their trade.” Du couldn't help but grin. “Yes, and he claims that five girls in one of his classes are the cause of this.” Yori gave him a very skeptical look. “Sounds highly unlikely, but we both know that improbable scenarios have a habit of becoming uncomfortable realities.” The young shinobi had to concede that as truth. She parked and they got out.

A bespectacled, blonde man greeted them. “Ah, Miss Steward, Miss Takashi! Welcome to Sheffield!” He called, too-enthusiastic, smiling too-widely.

“Professor Sylla, good to meet you, so glad you could make it on such short notice.” Will Du replied, making a mental note of the other agents bad acting.

“Come on, let us go inside to talk.” Sylla said with a gesture to follow him, turning his back at them.

Yori and Will exchanged a look, but did as they were bidden.

Inside his office, Sylla gestured for them to be silent before he gestured at the door, murmured something and a slight shudder ran through the room.

“Now, we can talk without disturbances or eavesdroppers.”

“So, what do you have?” Will Du was quick to cut to the case. “You mentioned you have a lead.”

“Yes, five students of mine. They seem to have some connection to the supernatural.” He handed them a manila folder. “Here are their profiles.”

Yori took it and browsed it for a moment. “These girls seem barely adolescent, how can they be responsible for our readings?”

“If I recall correctly, you and Mister Du have been in training even before you were these girls' age. The gifted can hardly chose when and how their gifts manifest, after all.”

Again, Yori and Will exchanged a look. “Well, we'll analyze your data and report back to headquarters.”

“Yes, of course,” Silas nodded. “I'm sure you have a lot of work ahead of you. I won't keep you.” He escorted them back to the school's entrance. “It's been a delight, but now I must tend to other tasks.”

“Don't let us keep you.” Du replied before turning to go, Yori by his side. They were quiet until they sat down in the car and the doors were shut.

“This was... different from what I expected.” Yori admitted, starting the car and backing out of the parking space. “Agent Sylla seemed... off.”

“He was. In fact, there's hardly a rookie in all of GJ who'd make as many protocolary mistakes as Silas just did. He's likely been compromised. This might not even be the original Sylla.”

“What would he be instead? Doppelgaenger? Impostor?”

“Clone, cybernetic drone, hard light construct, any number of things, really.” Du said. “Not that it matters. What matters is that a third party is investigating these incidents as well, and the fact that we don't know who the hell they could be speaks enough of how dangerous they are.”

“So, what now?”

“Inform headquarters and wait for additional instructions. Other than that, continue as before. Finding the source of these disturbances stays our primary objective.”

Yori nodded grimly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Riddle allowed himself a small smile. So, this were the 'agents' Global Justice deemed to set on this case: Barely more than children. They wouldn't be more than a nuisance, not a real threat to his plans. Now, if he could only capture those girls, he'd surely find a way to harness their powers. However, men of his age bracket interacting with teenaged girls they had neither family relations with nor were their teachers tended to draw far more attention than he could ever want. However, Sylla would provide an opportunity in these matters eventually, it was only a matter of time and Riddle could be a very patient man if waiting was worth it. They were here for half a year already, what were a few weeks more or less at this point?

Riddle's smile widened a fraction. “Very soon, I will wield this magic for myself, and then they will have to acknowledge my findings. Only it will be too late!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thursday, June 14th, twelve days until Graduation

“And that was the last.” Yori informed her partner over comm. She had just finished setting up the last of a good two dozen instruments to pick up and measure the disturbances around the area. It had taken the better part of two days. “Are you receiving?”

“Wonderfully clear readings, Ishikawa-san.” Will Du replied – in Japanese, as they had made it a habit of switching around languages easily. “Now, we only have to wait for enough data.”

“Great.” Yori replied flatly. She could be patient, if she needed to. After all, she was, among other things, a trained assassin, and waiting for hours for the perfect opportunity to strike was just as important as skill at arms and stealth and disguise in that profession. However, it didn't mean she had to like sitting on her butt without anything meaningful to do. She'd need to find something to occupy herself with. “I'm heading back now.” She made her way from the roof of the office building she had installed the instrument on back onto the street. There, she stopped, grinning. “Say, Agent Du, it is common practice for university students to take small jobs at local businesses to supplement their finances, yes?”

Will Du was silent for a long moment, likely to disentangle the linguistic mess of the long sentence bouncing back and forth between two languages. “Um, yes, though that's not necessary, your cover should be good enough.”

“Redundant safety measures, Agent Du.” Yori replied before crossing the street. “The better our cover, the lesser our chance to be discovered.”

Will Du had to concede that point, especially since it was one he himself liked to emphasize when building up a cover identity.

So, Yori entered the restaurant, only to find it apparently empty. “Um, hello?” she called out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Um, hello?” a young, female voice called out from the dining area of the Silver Dragon.

Mera Lin, auramere-turned-twinsister of Yan Lin, walked out to find a young woman. “Hello.” Mera greeted. “I'm sorry, but we are closed. We'll open at six p.m. Would you like to make a reservation?”

“No, well, actually, I'm here for the 'Help wanted' sign.” The young woman – barely more than a girl, Mera thought to herself. Which was in no way deprecating since she was fully aware what girls were capable of. And this girl here did give off the aura of someone like her dear grand daughter, but only very faintly. “I would have called ahead, but I literally just spotted it. My name is Yori, by the way.” she added with a bow.

“Ah, well, Yori, do you have any experience as a waitress?” Mera asked.

“Yes, I waited for some months back home.” Technically true, though that was in the elders' dining hall at Yamanuchi, not an actual restaurant, but close enough.

“I'll have to check back with my sister, but chances are you can start here.” Mera said. “If I may ask, Yori: Where is 'back home'?” The elder woman asked curiously.

“Japan. Hokkaido, to be exact.”

“Oh, an old friend of mine is from Hokkaido, as well. No matter, you probably don't know him anyway. Could you give me a telephone number so we can call you back?”

“Of course” the woman dictated a number Mera quickly noted down.

“Alright then.” Mera said, folding the note. “I'll give you a call as soon as I've talked to my sister.”

Yori bowed again. “Thank you. I'll be looking forward to your call.”

The young woman took her leave while Mera headed back into the kitchen.

“Who was that?” Yan Lin asked, looking up from chopping vegetables. She needn't look at her work at this point.

“A young girl, she asked about the 'Help Wanted' sign.” Mera replied, heading back to her own work, which was the previous day's tally.

“And?” Yan prompted. Her instinctive understanding with her 'twin' only went so far, and it distinctly excepted any information only one of them had received.

Mera looked around to make sure neither her nephew nor his wife were within earshot. “I said we'd get back to her. There was something off about her, though. I could sense magic on her. Not as if she was magical herself, but as if she had contact with it. A lot like Caleb, but far weaker.”

“Hmmm. So, either the magic was very weak in the first place or it's been a while since the contact.”

“You think she might be a new enemy?”

“Let's not be too hasty.” Yan placated. “For all we know, she might have simply been close to something magical without even knowing. We will be wary and inform the Guardians but that will be all we do for now.”

Mera nodded her agreement. “What about the job offer, though?”

“Call her, tell her she can come in for the evening crowd.” Yan smirked. “Trial by fire.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She could handle the evening crowd. The way Yori weaved between tables, other waiters and patrons seemed almost supernatural if Yan and Mera didn't know for a fact that it wasn't. Patrons gave her glowing reviews – and generous tips, if Yan observed correctly. Chen and Joan were elated about her, as was Hay Lin, who had jokingly adopted her as her 'big ninja sister'. Yori had waved that aside, stating that some fancy foot work didn't make her a ninja.

Sometime during the evening, Will had tried if the Heart of Kandrakar would reveal anything, but only gotten a complete non-reaction. For now, Yori was free of suspicion, but the Guardians as well as Yan and Mera were curious about her.

“Tables are wiped, floor is swiped and the front door is locked.” Yori reported as she entered the kitchen. “If there is nothing else, I'd like to go home now.” She was still smiling, but she was visibly tired. Not physically, as she still stood perfectly straight like a trained soldier – a trait Yan secretly envied her about as she never could bring herself to that level of discipline. It was more of an emotional tiredness. More than four hours of impeccable politeness could be straining, too.

“Just a moment, Yori.” Yan said “You did an outstanding job tonight. I can't reschedule for tomorrow, but if you can come by, I'll give you your hours for Friday, the weekend and next week. In short, you're hired.”

Yori's smile brightened. She bowed in gratitude. “Thank you, Mrs. Lin, I won't let you down!” she said.

“Oh, stop calling me that! 'Mrs. Lin' is my daughter-in-law. I'm Yan.”

“Alright, Sifu Yan.”

The elder woman started, then smirked. “It seems you are full of surprises. Now get home! Even you young people need sleep.”

“Good night!” Yori called out before the back door fell closed behind her.

Yan had to admit, Hay wasn't the only Lin who had quickly 'adopted' the young woman into the family.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wednesday, June 27th, Graduation day

Will Du and Yori had fallen into a comfortable routine. Making half-way regular showings at college, working out and sparring together, Will meeting with his 'boss' at Simultech twive more and Yori doing her shifts at the Silver Dragon. She was really enjoying that part. Hay Lin and her friends were around often, though Yori had noticed they were more tense and guarded than normal teenagers had any right to be. Maybe Sylla, compromised as he might have been, was onto something with them.

“So, what do the readings say?” Yori asked idly while she renewed the oil coat on her blades. A necessary procedure lest the weapons would rust.

“Half the incidents are spread out randomly around the city, but the other half occur here.” He pointed on a map to a spot downtown.

Yori put the _Franzisca_ throwing axe she'd been working on aside to take a closer look. She paused. “That's the _Silver Dragon_.” she exclaimed.

Will blinked and took another look. “What the heck? How does that make sense? I agree that Mrs. Lin's cooking is great, but not to the point that it distorts timespace.”

“Maybe it's famous across dimensions?” Yori joked. “And they have guests from parallel worlds.”

Du chuckled at that. “Can you imagine? Albus Dumbledore and Gandalf arguing over who had the pork and who the duck?”

“Meanwhile, at the next table, Monkey D. Luffy, Satoshi and Son Goku have an eating contest.”

“Oh no, they'd ruin the Lins!” They descended into a laughing fit for a moment before sobering again.

As they calmed down, Yori asked: “Jokes aside, what do we do with this information?”

“We'll talk to the Lins tomorrow. Today, act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. When you get back from your shift, we'll talk about how we'll confront them.

Yori nodded. She didn't like it, but from the looks of it, Will didn't like it either. They were still missing something.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Will Du's comm pinged while he was going over the day's readings. “I read you, head qu-”

“Code Goldsmith.” his CO's voice cut him off. “Say again, Code Goldsmith. Hostiles inbound. Protection of civilians first priority. Break cover if need be.”

“Understood.” he replied grimly as he grabbed a small bundle before he stepped out of the apartment. Outside, the sky darkened.

“Good luck, Agent Du”

The the noise of a large, heavy object hitting the ground outside drowned out his reply. Du drew his gun and replaced his default rubber bullets with armor-piercing rounds. “C'mon, ET, let's dance.” he growled before opening another comm-link. “Ishikawa, do you read? What's your position?” He asked, making his way down the stair case.

“I read you. I'm at the Silver Dragon, cover broken. We're taking all patrons and whoever else we can into the basement.”

“Good. Do you have any visuals of the hostiles?”

“Negative, but we can hear large machinery not far away. Assume heavy armor.”

Finally, he exited the building – and stopped dead in his tracks. “Confirmed” he said while staring up at the enormous contraption that constituted the 'inbound hostiles'. “Wells wants his script back.” he muttered before holstering his gun again. He doubted anything below a Abrams tank's main gun could even scratch this thing. He took off at a sprint. “Ishikawa, visual on the hostiles. Think War of the Worlds. Do not directly engage, keep getting civilians to safety. I'm on my way over to you.”

Will kept going, only occasionally stopping to get another stunned civilian to move to the relative safety of a building, with instructions to seek a basement and hunker down there.

Finally, he made it to the back door of the _Dragon_. “Ishikawa, I'm here, let me in.” he half-yelled into his com.

“Window, by your right foot” was the answer. He looked down to find Yori looking up at him, surrounded by terrified civilians. She opened the window and he swung in. He recognized the Lins, of course, having had dinner in their restaurant a few times, but also Hay and her friends, the same five girls Silas had his suspicions about. And another familiar face greeted him.

“Mister Steward?” the incredulous voice of his alleged boss, Susan Vandom drifted over to him.

“Mrs. Vandom. Good to see you safe.” he replied. “Do we have any injuries?” he asked the gathered. A murmured response in the negative answered him. There were a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing that needed immediate medical attention. “Ishikawa, we need to get back out there, get people to safety.”

“You're not a college student, are you, Mister Steward?” Susan asked again.

Will Du turned to her, an apologetic smile on his lips. He pulled out his badge, identifying him as a GJ agent. “No, ma'am, and my name isn't Ian Steward either. Will Du, Global Justice. I take it my colleague Miss Ishikawa here has already introduced herself. We're here to help. We'll keep you safe.” He announced to the room at large, then dropped his voice to a hurried murmur as he talked to Susan. “Now, Mrs. Vandom, I know you're not a trained emergency responder of any form, but I know you can organize people and keep them in control. Please do that here. Recruit anyone you think can do the same to help you. Yori and I need to go out there again and get people off the streets and into shelter.”

“So, the rumors are true?” Susan asked. “People say this is an alien invasion. That there are war machines out in the streets, though we haven't seen them.”

“That's what it looks like, yeah.” Will Du admitted. Susan took these news with decidedly less of a fuss than he had anticipated. She took a deep breath, then nodded. “All the more reason to keep people from panicking. I need you to take control here, keep people in line. Help is on the way, GJ is prepared for such a scenario. The elder Lins seem competent in their own right, maybe you find ex-military or the like to help you out.”

“I'll help out, too.” a man with reddish brown hair and a mustache approached.

“Sir?” Will Du turned to him.

“Dean Collins.” he introduced himself. “I might only be a history teacher and the biggest emergency I was ever involved with was a minor fire at school, but I'll do what I can.”

“Thank you, Sir.” He turned to Yori. “We good to go, Ishikawa?”

“Affirmative. I don't suppose you grabbed my...” She was cut off as he passed her the bag he had grabbed before leaving their apartment. “Thank you.” Within seconds, the bag was turned inside out into a belt, Yori's _franzisca_ , _kopis_ as well as her Japanese-style throwing knives on it, along with several pouches filled with other equipment.

“No time for the _bec_ , sorry.”

“It'll have to do.” Yori replied with a shrug, then made to climb out the window.

“Hey, are you abandoning us here?” a man called from the other end of the room. Before Will or Yori could say anything, Susan was right up in his face. “They aren't abandoning us. They go back out there and risk their lives to get more people to safety. If you think you're better at that than them, I won't stop you. But if you throw around accusations without doing anything yourself, I won't hesitate to shut you up. Are we clear?”

The man, broad shouldered and at least half a head taller than Susan, was cowed and nodded silently. Susan turned to Will Du and gave him a crisp nod, which he returned. He was about to follow Yori out the window, when Joan Lin called out: “Wait, where's Hay? Hay Lin! She's gone.” The GJ agent glanced to the spot where he had seen the girl only minutes before. Not only her, but her four friends were gone as well. “Will!” He heard Susan exclaim. Her searching gaze told him he wasn't who she meant.

“Ishikawa, we might have a problem.” he said into his comm. “Hay Lin, Will Vandom and her friends...”

There was a flash of multi colored light outside as Yori replied in a slightly distracted voice: “...will be fine. C'mon, we have a mission.” The decidedness in her voice convinced him. He climbed out to find Yori at the end of the alley. “Come on, no time to waste!” They took off toward the main street, as Will noticed something flying high up ahead. He pointed at the five objects.

“Told you, the girls will be fine.” Yori replied, a smile forming on her lips for a second before she became serious again. Will Du nodded.

They made it to main street to find a road block of police cruisers. “Get the national guard, the army, anyone with bigger guns than us.” One of the officers yelled into his radio. From the other end of the street, one of the alien machines approached.

“I fear they'll be distracted, Officer.” Will called out as they came closer. Immediately, he found five guns trained at him.

“Who are you?” The officer barked.

“Agents Du and Ishikawa, Global Justice.” He made to take out his badge, but realized that reaching behind him might be a bad move with a bunch of nervous cops.

“Do you have credentials?” the officer asked, just slightly less aggressively than before, though he gestured for his colleagues to stand down. Will took that as safe enough to take out his badge. The officer took a look at it and nodded, accepting it. “Officer George Peck, HFPD”

“Get your people off the road, Peck. This road block will do nothing.” Will declared as he put his badge away again. “You might as well try to stop that thing with card board boxes and cotton balls.”

“And what are we supposed to do then? We've all sworn to keep the people in this city safe.” It was painfully obvious that the officer knew fully well that they were powerless against this threat and that even this roadblock was a product of the notion 'better to do anything than nothing'

“Get people off the streets.” Will replied. “Get them into shelter, prevent any gun-toting wannabe-hero from engaging the things. I've seen one up close, as long as you don't have anti-tank weaponry, you can't do anything against them.”

The officer growled, but nodded. He relayed this to his colleagues, who wasted no time in following the new instructions. Nobody had a particular wish to be squished beneath an alien doom machine.

Just as the officers were scattering, five figures shot by overhead, heading directly for the very same alien doom machine.

“Oh, Susan's gonna kill me.” Will said, then started running towards the machine himself. He stopped, however, when an enormous fireball erupted from one of the figures, hitting the machine and making it stumble.

“Those belong to you?” The officer from before asked.

Yori answered him: “They're not affiliated with GJ, though in this case, go by the time-honored wisdom of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Don't engage them, just keep evacuating.

“Like hell I'd engage a living flame thrower.” The officer replied, turning to get back to his task.

Will turned back to watch. Just in time to see a massive bolt of lightning struck the machine and apparently overloaded it, since it seized up, rocked on the spot for a moment, then tipped over and crashed into an building. A still occupied building, as the panicked screams showed.

Yori and Will took off at a run, hearing the policemen and -women following behind them.

“Cornelia, can you prop it up?” they heard a voice call out as they came closer.

“Sure, just not for long.” came the reply. “The whole thing's crumbling.”

“There's a gas leak, I can smell it.” Another voice reported.

“Taranee, Irma, you need to keep that under control if it ignites.” the first voice ordered.

Yori hopped onto the downed machine and climbed into the building. “Du, it's full of civilians. And Hay Lin was right, it smells like gas in here.”

“Understood.” He replied. “Officers, keep back.” he called to the approaching police. “There's a gas leak. Get fire fighters here if you can. Clear a perimeter. We'll get the civies out.”

A loud knocking behind him made him turn. A group of people was knocking on the ground level show windows. Seconds later, something impacted with one of the window panes, shattering it. The people quickly made their way out, only to be directed into shelters by the police. Will once again though how much he loved it when people knew their jobs.

He made his own way inside, snatching up Yori's _franzisca_ as he did so. Yori waited for him at the door to the staircase. “Here, thought you'd want that back.” he said as he held out the axe to her. She put it back into her belt and started off upstairs.

“Any numbers?” he said, following

“Nothing, people are panicking, and the structural integrity of the building isn't just compromised, it's gone. If not for Miss Hale outside, it'd collapse. We need to hurry.”

“How do you know these girls?” He asked, after kicking open a jammed door and instructing the couple behind it to get downstairs and out. On to the next apartment.

“They're Hay Lin's friends, spent a lot of time at the _Dragon_.” she replied as she used her kopis to shatter bent-to-disfunction hinges, freeing a family of three who quickly made their way out.

They heard a gun shot. They cursed. They heard the explosion and threw themselves down, avoiding the shock blast and fire wave that shot overhead.

“Irma, Taranee!” they heard a yell over the roar of the flames.

Getting up, Yori looked around. “The shot came from further up. Here!” She tossed him a device he recognized as a small respirator normally meant for underwater use. They ran back to the staircase and up, where they barreled into a middle-aged man with a large caliber pistol in hand and singed clothes. Yori disarmed him with one quick motion before he could even get back to his feet. “Hey, what do you think you're...”

“Shut up!” Will spat, slapping him over the face for good measure. “You set the building on fire with your shot! If anyone comes to harm from this, it'll be on your head. Get the fuck out!”

The man was cowed and went to go while both agents made their way further. They broke open doors and lifted debris out of the way, freeing a dozen more people. About halfway through the hallway, two girls approached – flying, no less. “Miss Takashi! What are you doing here?” one of them, a dark skinned girl with glasses asked

“My name's Ishikawa, actually. I'm with Global Justice.” Yori explained hurriedly, kicking in another door, only to find the apartment behind it empty. “This is my partner, Will Du.”

“Pleased to meet you, ladies, though I'd rather focus on getting civilians out instead of small talk.”

“You do that, we'll keep the fire down.” the other girl said

“I'd question that, but we don't have time for skepticism right now.” Will Du replied. “Just make sure you're save. The fire source ought to be higher up.”

“Thanks.” both girls made off, heading up through a hole in the ceiling.

“We should split up, we can cover more ground that way.” Yori said.

“And have one of us get caught under something with no way out? No way” Will disagreed.

“Will, we don't have time to argue, we” she was cut off when the whole building rocked and tilted slightly.

“Hurry up already!” came a strained, desperate cry from outside.

“Get all the way up and work down from there, we'll meet in the middle.” Will instructed and Yori nodded and handed him her _franzisca_ before she took off at a run, jumping up the whole the girls had left through seconds before she made her way further up.

The next few minutes were hectic, with the heat becoming more and more intense as the fire spread. At least the escape routes remained relatively cool as well as free of smoke and debris. That wasn't the case in the apartments, however. More then once, Will had to leap through a wall of flame to get to civilians cut off from their way out by burning furniture. Luckily, with a few valiant kicks and hits with the axe, the drywall construction gave way to another route of escape.

“Yori, sit rep!” he bellowed into his com as he made his way up another flight of stairs to find a completely charred hallway. The source of the fire had to be here.

“I'm one floor above you, getting the last ones here out. No fatalities, but a few cases of smoke poisoning. How about you?”

“Much the same. I had to employ your axe a fair bit, sorry for any jags.” he replied. “Girls, are you here?” he called out ahead.

“Third on the right!” came the answer. “We've got it covered, just get the people out.”

“Hurry about it, I can feel the building tilting!”

Will ran into the hallway, finding the first few apartments empty already. The next few weren't much of a problem, either. They only needed a kicked-in front door to get out, since the handles had grown too hot to touch. It was only when he came to the last door that he had problems. First, the front door wouldn't open, blocked by something large and heavy behind it. Hacking the door away with the actually inappropriate throwing axe, he made his way inside to find the obstructions was a large cabinet that had fallen over against the door. Next, he found the entire inner half of the entry corridor aflame. Thinking quick, he heaved at the cabinet to tilt it back over and let it drop lengthwise along the floor, giving him a temporary bridge through the inferno. Jamming the respirator into his mouth, he lunged through and into the living room, where he found a teenager and a middle-aged woman standing midst the flames. They were African-American, desperately banging on a door and calling out a name: “Adrian!” Mother and son, Will assumed.

The son was first to notice him. “Hey, who the hell are you?” He demanded. “You don't look like a fire fighter. You wanna plunder?”

“No, I want to help.” Will responded. Next thing he knew, he had to haul both of them away from the door as another large cabinet tipped over and crashed down on were they had been standing, cutting off the way to the door. “NO!” the woman called out. “Adrian!”

“Your borther's in there?” Will asked the boy, who had to hold back his mother from leaping back to the door. He received a nod. “I'll get him out of there.” The boy had managed to calm his mother somewhat and dared to let go of her. Will's eyes fell onto a fire axe that lay on the ground. It had to have been in the destroyed cabinet. “You know how to use that?” He asked, pointing.

“Yeah, dad showed me. It was his.”

Will snatched it up and pressed it into the boy's hands. “It's yours now. Go into the kitchen, hack a way out. I'll get your brother.”

“Alright. Get him out of here, keep my bro save.” He stared Will in the eye for a long moment. Will nodded wordlessly. The boy nodded back before he lead the way into the kitchen, his mother right behind him. Seconds later, he could her the axe impacting the wall.

Will turned to face the blocked door. He'd have to jump to even get there. Then he noticed something disheartening: The door opened into the room. No way he could simply break the hinges to get through. He took a deep breath. The doors in this building weren't all that tough, built-wise. He could feasibly burst thorough one. It wouldn't be a very pleasant experience, however. He took a few steps back until his back touched the wall. Then, he took a running start and jumped. Shifting in the air, his left shoulder made contact with the door and it gave. Bursting into the adjacent room with a could of splinters and shrapnel, he made it. Miraculously, this room was free of any signs of fire, safe for the mounting heat.

“Will!” he heard Yori cry out in shock. Looking up, he saw the ninja standing on the opposite end of the room, holding a young boy of maybe five years in her arms. The door to the balcony behind her was open.

“I'm fine. How's the boy?”

“He's okay.” Yori replied, helping her partner up with one hand. “We were about to get out of here. I heard yelling from the other side of the door. Who is there?”

“His mother and brother.”

“Mommy!” the boy exclaimed, straining against Yori's grip.

“Hey, hey!” Will caught his flailing arms. “Adrian, your mommy's fine. Your brother's with her and they're getting out and to safety. I'm Will and your brother sent me to get you out, too. I'll be in a lot of trouble with him if I mess this up, so I'll need your help.” Adrian was staring at him with wide eyes at this point. “Will you help us, Adrian?” The little boy nodded. “Good, then I need you to hold onto me. I need you to hold onto me as strong as you can. We will climb out and I will need my arms free for that so I can't hold you. That's why you need to hold onto me. And when I tell you to, you will need to let go. Yori will be right there – Yori is the pretty girl who's holding you – she will be there to catch you, so it will be all fine, but I need you to do that. Can you do that?” Adrian nodded again. Will nodded back and turned to Yori. “You'll climb ahead, one story down. I follow, Adrian drops to you and then we get the heck out of here.”

Yori agreed and started climbing out. It was a fairly easy climb, the only downside being the fact that it was several stories over the asphalt below. Luckily, the balcony provided enough hand- and footholds. “Alright, I made it.” she called up. Not long after, Will hung above her, dangling like laundry out to dry, Adrian clinging to his chest for all he was worth. “Okay, Adrian, you did really good. Now, you'll need to let go. Yori's right there, don't worry, she'll catch you.” Adrian looked at him once more before letting go, his panicked scream from the sudden feeling of free fall cut short as Yori snatching from the air and pressed him close for reassurance. Setting him down, she looked up and froze. Will swung down, only to spot what had made Yori stop in her tracks. The balcony door was locked and barred. Impossible to get in that way.“Well, shhhh-” Will began, but with a glance at Adrian he corrected to “crud.” The building gave another lurch, and started to slowly tip over completely.

“Jump!” a voice called up. It was the same who had coordinated the girls when they had arrived.

“You heard the lady!” Will said, snatched Adrian up, who instinctively clung to him again, and did indeed jump over the handrail. Yori didn't waste time to question and was right beside him when he pushed off the balcony.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cornelia stopped trying to keep the building together and instead led it through a controlled collapse, keeping the surrounding buildings relatively undamaged. What remained of the once sparkling twelve story building was an enormous pile of rubble.

Will cut the power lines, so it was only mundane wires slapping down into the rubble instead of high voltage cables.1

Taranee and Irma kept up their efforts against the flames from the outside until the fire fighters could take over, who did so with recommendable routine and discipline, especially since they were taking over from what essentially looked like fairy tale creatures.

And Hay Lin managed to catch the three people flinging themselves from a sixth story balcony, trusting blindly there would be someone to catch them. The strong updrafts gently lowered them to street level, where a little boy was snatched up by his mother and big brother. They hugged him close while he kept babbling something and pointed behind him, completely devoid of fear, but with an urgency that only small children can display quite like that. Finally, his family relented and turned their attention to the GJ agents.

Paramedics were looking them over, but couldn't find anything more serious than a few scrapes and bruises. Which were nonetheless disinfected with a solution that burned on the skin before getting bandaged. On the bright side, one of them informed them that the invasion had been stopped, by none other than Kim Possible, though with a lot of help from her boyfriend and Dr. Drakken and Shego of all people.

“I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us.” The mother started, embracing them both.

“All part of the job, ma'am.” Will replied, but was prevented from any other answer when the older brother pulled him into a bear hug.

“Man, I'm sorry for being a dick up there. It's just...”

“You're used to having to defend yourself?” Will ventured. The boy nodded. He was still clutching the fire axe. “Yeah, ever since Dad... Well, people think they can push us around just because he isn't around anymore.”

“I see. He, uh, was a fire fighter?”

“He was.” a nearby fire fighter said. “Ian was one of the best in the force. Died as he lived – a hero. And so is his son, if today is any measure.”

“I'm no hero.” replied the older brother. “I couldn't safe Addy. He had to do it.” he pointed to Will.

“You can't safe everyone, Bobby, so you safe those you can.” the fire fighter replied. “You couldn't safe Addy, so you let someone else who could do it. You could safe your mom, so you did. Trusts in others is just as important in this job as all the training and the equipment.” Bobby didn't seem fully convinced. “”

“Adrian was very brave.” Yori chimed in. “He didn't complain or cry at all when we got him out.”

“My two hero-sons” the mother embraced her two sons again, who hugged her back.

Will and Yori excused themselves and went over to where the Officer Peck was in a discussion with the five girls who'd destroyed the alien machine and helped keep the fire under control until the building was evacuated.

“Sorry, girls, but these are the rules.” Peck declared.

“We can't come with you.” the redhead in the center replied. “It's not our decision to tell you anything about us. You have to believe us. Can't you just... gloss over the part were we helped out?”

“No, he can't.” a brunette at her side replied. “They'll have to write an exact protocol.”

“Your friend's right.” Peck confirmed.

“Then the whole thing is classified as of now.” Will Du interrupted. “Global Justice charter article 12 paragraph 3. Your entire investigation is classified so much nobody in this city has any right to even think about looking into the files. We'll take over from here. Please make sure your people 'forget' anything apart from the quadropod.”

Peck grumbled to himself, but relented, largely because he was out of his predicament like that.

“Um, thanks.” the redhead, obviously the leader of the group, said.

“Don't thank me yet.” Will Du said, all-business. “The only difference so far is that you'll have to answer our questions in stead of the police's and I'm not sure you'll like them any better. Come.”

The girls looked among themselves, but did follow him. He lead them through an abandoned back alley, Yori bringing up the rear and checking for any pursuers. “You might want to power down.”

“Huh?” the redhead said intelligently.

“You're somehow transformed and powered up, aren't you?” Will Du said. “Power down, so you won't draw attention when we get back to areas where there's actually people around. The news should spread that the danger is over and people will get back to their lives.”

The leader held up a necklace with a pink gem and the 'fairies' vanished in a flash of light, replaced with five teenage girls.

Will Du nodded. “Now, let's get you back to the _Dragon_.”

“You're just bringing us back?”

“No, you'll still have to answer our questions, but right now, there are five very worried mothers waiting for news of their daughters and I refuse to let any of them suffer uncertainty any longer than necessary.”

The redhead gulped.

“Don't worry, Will, I'll come up with an excuse why you vanished in the middle of a crisis like that.”

“You know my name?”

Will Du smirked. “Let's say your mother has a favorite topic of conversation.” Will Vandom didn't reply to that.

Minutes later, they reentered the _Silver_ _Dragon_ , where many tears of joy and worry were shed at the sight of the lost daughters. Will Du did excuse their vanishing credibly, even though it wouldn't prevent Will Vandom from a week of being grounded without telephone or computer.

“Don't worry, we'll bail you out.” Will Du promised as he and Yori took their leave sometime later.

“I'll hold you to that.” Will Vandom replied grumpily.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Will Du and Yori know about W.I.T.C.H.'s secret, now, but what will that lead to? What's up with Sylla? And how will the world react to the fact that humanity isn't alone in the universe? Find out in "tPI - Lorwa's revenge"! It'll also explain just what the heck 'tPI' stands for.


End file.
